Russia Plane Crash: Four People Killed

Four people have died after a passenger plane overshot an airport runway and crashed into a motorway in Russia.

The Red Wing Airlines aircraft burst through a perimeter fence on to a motorway next to Moscow's Vnukovo airport - the third busiest in Russia.

Officials said the Tu-204 plane - travelling from the Czech Republic - was carrying eight crew members and no passengers. It broke into pieces and caught fire after crashing.

The cockpit of the aircraft was sheared off from the fuselage and a large chunk gashed out near the tail during the impact.

Witnesses told state channel Rossiya-24 they saw a man thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the motorway and described pulling other people from the wreckage.

A statement from the Ministry of Healthcare said four of those on board were killed, while four others are suffering from head injuries.

Among those killed were the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and a flight attendant.

The crash took place during high winds and a snowstorm, but the cause of the accident is not yet clear.

Prior to Saturday's crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995.

The plane is a twin-engine mid-range jet with a capacity of about 210 passengers.

Vnukovo, on the southern outskirts of Moscow, is one of the Russian capital's three international airports.

The airport was closed after the crash and flights were routed to Moscow's other airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo.

Investigators said preliminary findings pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash.

Russia and other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records - with a total accident rate three times the world average, according to the International Air Transport Association.

In April, 31 people were killed after a passenger jet crashed after takeoff in Siberia.

Another 44 people, including the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, were killed when their aircraft smashed into a riverbank in September 2011.